Chapter 8
Natsu's first thought was soft, his second was too soft, and his third was this isn't the same soft as Lucy. Reluctantly he cracked open his eyes to see what he was holding. It took a few seconds to realize he had her pillow in his arms and he was chewing and sucking on it like it was a pacifier. He released it sticking out his tongue with distaste. In the dream he was having earlier he had been nibbling and sucking on Lucy's ear making her giggle and squeal happily as he held her close. He glanced over at the bathroom door and seeing it was open he knew she wasn't there. A clank coming from the kitchen and the smell of food finally reaching his nose gave way her location. Slowly he sat up on the bed and stretched. Surprisingly he didn't feel as sore today, at least not so bad that it would prevent him from moving on his own. Tentatively he slipped out of the bed and slowly made his way to the kitchen where Lucy was busy making French Toast with eggs and Bacon. She had apparently finished with both the French Toast and Bacon, and was now cooking a huge plait of eggs. She was so focused on cooking she didn't notice him until he walked up behind her and placed his arms around her neck in a hug. She jumped in surprise, but after realizing it was him focused back on the egg she was working on. He let out a relaxed sigh before speaking.
"Thanks for what you did last night Luce, I feel so much better today." Of course he meant for both the massage and snuggling up so close to him, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, or him for that matter. "Can you do it again for me tonight too?"
"You're welcome Natsu, and sure. Though I didn't think one massage would have you up and moving so well today."
"I didn't think I would be able to move so well today either. I guess you're the perfect cure for when I'm too hurt to move." He joked with a grin causing her to blush then swat him on the arm lightly.
"Hey listen, I'm going to head to the store after breakfast and pick up some things, do you want anything I don't have on the list?"
Natsu thought for a moment before asking where the list was so he could have a look.
"Can you get me some peppers and Booze or something to drink?" he asked tentatively.
"Sure." Lucy answered taking the list back from him and writing them on it. She then turned off the burner and moved the plait of eggs to the table.
They both sat down and ate chatting about how some of the residents who returned had asked about if some improvements could be done to their homes while they were building back the town. Everything needed to be rebuilt from scratch anyway, so it had been arranged. Most of the residents had asked for some additions for another child on the way, or for a guest room for family. This gave Natsu the perfect opportunity to bring up his own home.
"I was thinking of doing something similar to my house too."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but I guess you need a blueprint, or something for that. Do you think you could help me draw one up Luce?"
Lucy blinked for a moment taken back by what he was asking. But then smiled and agreed to help. They finished their meal with Natsu scarfing down his platters full ending with Natsu giving a loud satisfied belch. As he sat contently digesting his food he watched Lucy gather up the dishes and wash and dry them placing them back into the cupboard they belonged in. He thought for a moment on what he could do without moving too much then had an idea.
"Hey Luce do you have a fishing rod anywhere?"
She thought for a moment. "Yeah I think I have a small traveling rod somewhere, thinking of going fishing?"
"Yep, at that pond just outside of the town it's quiet there and it didn't get hit by Acnologia or the empire.
Lucy tapped her chin thoughtfully. "How would you like if I grab Happy and meet you out their later for a picnic in the afternoon? I can bring some paper and a pen and work out your building plan there. By the way I forgot to mention before, but the council said that as a reward for defeating Acnologia and Zerif you won't need to worry about the cost of building it."
"That sounds great Luce!" he said giving her a big grin.
"Don't thank me yet till I finished giving you a hand." She said going over to one of her closets and rummaging around for the fishing rod and the fold up fishing basket. Getting it out she handed it to him grabbed the list and her purse.
"See you at noon, and think about what you want for your new house while you're at it. Start with what you need first then go for what you want to do in the new rooms, and then last the bonus spaces you want, Ok?"
"Sure, see ya." He said as she went out the door he then got up to head to the lake.
Well, he may not be able to confess to her face, but at least he might be able to trick her into building the sort of house she could stand living in with him Natsu thought to himself. Maybe Happy could give him a pep talk so he would be able to tell her he liked her. Ten minutes later he flung the line into the water. For him he didn't really need to think about what he needed. All he needed from the house was a place to sleep, a place to go to the bathroom, and a place to eat. He could make do out in the open if he needed to, but he knew something like that wouldn't cut it for Lucy, she was used to big fancy things after all. Rather than thinking what she would want he could only think about what she wouldn't. Lucy didn't like messes, feeling dirty, she didn't like when someone interrupted her when she was writing, or reading what she was writing before she was finished, she also didn't like when people wrecked her things. Well, that was easy. She needed a house with place to work on her story in peace, easy to clean and keep clean, and not easily damaged or breakable. Another thought occurred to him, how many kids would she want? He wanted like ten or twenty, but how many would she be willing to have? He thought back to what Bisca had said about a girl having a kid.
"When a woman has a kid she risks her life."
Natsu didn't know what that meant, but he guessed every time a woman has a baby they went into some battle alone with a lot of enemies. It must be some sort of tradition like Christmas or the Fantasia Festival. Maybe he could convince her to skip that tradition or at least take him with her. He looked up at the sun and sighed, another three and half hours to go.
Lucy's first stop was to the guild hall to find Happy. She really didn't want to go into the guild hall to find him. If she told him about it there someone would overhear and soon the whole guild would be at the lake joining in for a guild wide picnic. Luck would have it she ran into the little exceed right outside. She wasn't called Lucky Lady Lucy Heartfilia for nothing after all. Happy agreed to meet at the lake at noon rather excitedly when Lucy promised to make a few raw fish sandwiches for him. She said goodbye as he flew through the guild doors then traveled to the shopping district. It had been the first place to be restored in the town, after all no one could live without being able to buy food or new cloths. There was also the income the vendor stalls provided to the port town aiding in its reconstruction. Lucy's first stop was to the butcher where she purchased some turkey, ham, and sausage for her picnic sandwiches. She then purchased some larger quantities of meat to be delivered to her residence at around four. Next she visited the baker and purchased five loaves of bread. With the way Natsu ate she might even need to purchase five a day. Last she visited the Market where she got eggs, three bottles of milk, vegetables, three fish for Happy's sandwiches, and fruits. When at the vegetable seller's stall she made sure to pick up extra peppers. She then headed towards the more ritzy section of the shopping district.
She remembered a small store that had been in an alleyway that sold inexpensive but rather high class tasting alcohol. In fact it might be the one alcoholic place Cana didn't know about considering it was placed between a baby store and a wedding planners and bridal shop. Those personally were probably the drunkard card mage's biggest repellent to the area. Going past the wedding and bridal shop Lucy noticed a new bridal dress in the window. She looked at it wistfully before going into the alley to the alcohol store. Her brief look at the dress however didn't go unnoticed however because a certain person had been shopping and happened to spot her from the other side of the street. She couldn't wait to tell the rest of the guild what she had seen. Anybody could tell the blond mage wished someone would ask her to be their special someone someday and take her down the aisle.
Lucy like the other stores and vendors made sure to make arrangements to have the larger quantities of food and beers brought to her home around four. The beer would survive being set next to the fridge and they could put a few in to keep it cool to drink. Lucy had also picked up three bottles of a particular brandy she liked and took one case of brandy with her. It was one of the few that didn't leave her loopy when she drunk it and it had a creamy fruity aftertaste with a bit of fizz. She then went towards home. On the way she saw an amazingly cute dress in a window display unlike most of the cloths she owned this dress covered most of the wearer's skin. It was a cream colored white lace dress knee length in the front, but reached her ankles in the back. The ruffled design accentuated not only the size of her breasts, but put more definition on her amazing figure. It at least gave her a ten percent chance of standing on par with Mira and Erza in a fight of looks. She liked it a lot so she bought it and a matching white lace sun hat with a shimmery, silverish, pink ribbon. It would work great in the Miss Fairy Tail contest taking place at the end of the year. She would need to go shoe shopping before then and find some shoes to match.
At her home she used all the meat to make the Sandwiches. She made two Ham and turkey for herself, three fish sandwiches for Happy, and the Rest was all Natsu's. She placed the Sandwiches into her biggest picnic basket along with her case of booze and a bottle of the brandy she liked with a pair of glasses. She also took a bottle of milk and cup for Happy. Looking at the time she saw how close it was to noon and raced to find her picnic blanket before grabbing the blanket and racing out.
